Winning over the unaware for grass fed.

I have been to many farmer's markets and groceries where grass fed was an option to be had for any who wanted it. It seems, however, that only the already initiated were ever interested. I suspect it is the higher price tag of the meat, double, triple, or more over the cost of the same cut of feed-lot beef. Sometimes there is a little pamphlet going into details about what makes it the better choice, but once again it seems that only those who were already interested bother to look.

For myself, I try to get people interested one of two ways. First is provably showing how much a feedlot cut shrinks down compared to the grass-fed beef. It is funny to watch their faces as the cheap cut that started out slightly bigger slowly shrinks down while the grass-fed cut remains roughly the same size. The larger the two cuts are to start, the more dramatic the difference is at the end. Weighing them at the end can be useful as well if you happen to have a digital scale handy. It doesn't make up the difference in cost, but it does show how the grass-fed can be made to go further.

My second method is simply letting people try it. Two pieces of the same cut side by side are cooked using only a bit of salt and pepper to bring out the natural flavors. Well rested and taste tested, invariably people much prefer the grass-fed. Some people have accused me of sneaking a higher quality cut in for the grass-fed side while they weren't looking. I can't say I always eat grass-fed, but I do try to get it into the rotation of things eaten when I can afford it. I don't expect others do differently, but I think that every person I convince to start eating it from time to time is one more stone on the scale for pushing to have more of it in the marketplace. The way I figure, the costs will only go down when there is a desire to put more of it out there. Maybe eventually the government will subsidize grass-fed instead of corn-fed.

So I am curious if anyone else has methods they use to win people over to the side of grass-fed beef? Maybe your experience with pamphlets differs from my own.

D. Logan wrote: For myself, I try to get people interested one of two ways. First is provably showing how much a feedlot cut shrinks down compared to the grass-fed beef. It is funny to watch their faces as the cheap cut that started out slightly bigger slowly shrinks down while the grass-fed cut remains roughly the same size. The larger the two cuts are to start, the more dramatic the difference is at the end. Weighing them at the end can be useful as well if you happen to have a digital scale handy. It doesn't make up the difference in cost, but it does show how the grass-fed can be made to go further.

I am not sure I would do that type of test with my customers. I try to stress that my beef is actually fully grass finished. This means that it will have the proper amount of intramuscular fat as a grain finished cut. The extra lean versions commonly sold is beef that hasn't been properly finished where it is constantly gaining 1 to 3 pounds a day on quality pastures. A good introduction to the difference is Alan Nations book _Grassfed to Finish_.

R Scott

Posts: 3305

Location: Kansas Zone 6a

32

posted 2 years ago

D. Logan wrote:Maybe eventually the government will subsidize grass-fed instead of corn-fed.

NO!!!

That would F it all up.

But they sort of do that already, with BLM grazing rights (how is it a right if they control it and you have to pay to get it?)

"You must be the change you want to see in the world." "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." --Mahatma Gandhi
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Andie Shire

Posts: 12

posted 2 years ago

Taste marketing hooked me. Try giving them a sample for a meal and see what happens. It isn't 100% but I think last I heard approx 50% return. That's 50% more than you had before! I believe it is imperative to have a healthy reliable production method in place prior to sampling, you'd hate to not have your methods down pat and thus presenting a tough cut.

John Polk

master steward

Posts: 8018

Location: Currently in Lake Stevens, WA. Home in Spokane

269

posted 2 years ago

I spent several years in Argentina, where beef is considered a 'staple'.
The Spanish word for 'meat' is carne. But in Argentina, carne means beef.

Why would a rancher go out and pay for cereal if he has the lush pampas grasslands?

Cut for cut, I think most Argentine beef is a little tougher than U.S. meat, but the flavor knocks the socks off of anything sold in our markets. When I was there, I got addicted to 'befe de lomo'. It is their equivalent to a New York cut.